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Trip to Greece, first timer

I'm planning to visit Greece next March. I'm from Malaysia and will be travelling to Chennai, Jeddah, Amman, Istanbul and then Athens. After that I will be leaving for London and return to Malaysia. I've done some research and at first I thought I just wanna spend about 2-3 days merely in Athens, however, I figured that I should visit Santorini as well. Would you recommend to me any places nearby, that are worth visiting? My budget for tickets, hotel (cheap ones) and food (I'll bring some food with me) are around 300-500 Euro. Or should I increase my budget?

I'm assuming your budget of €300-500 is for just the Greek portion of your trip? I suppose 2-3 days in Athens would be possible if you used cheaper hotels. Adding Santorini, even in March which is off season, would strain your budget.

You wrote: "I'll bring some food with me." I'm assuming (once again) you are worried about finding Halal food in Greece. There are plenty of vegetarian options, which I understand are compatible with Halal.

Santorini is a good 6-8 hours ferry ride at this time of the year or a 30 minutes flight from Athens. Mainly early March is off-season on the islands, even on Santorini. Not sure what your aim is to go there at this time of the year? Incredible views are still there (unless there is fog or heavy rain of course)but not too much to do or see otherwise. Given time to get to Santorini+the costs which can not be less that around 50+ euro each way for transportation+hotel+other costs, I would think mainland is a much better alternative. Not sure what kind of places are you interested on, but why not to look on Nafplion for a couple of nights or Delphi or Meteora? All of them are scenic places, you can reach on public bus and you do not run risk of delays/cancellations in case of bad weather. Even in case of snow up on the mountains, bus drivers are prepared, and snow is rather a bonus than a disturbance on those destinations.

Yes that budget is just for my trip to Athens. I see, I'll take a look on my budget again. Thanks

Yes, your assumption is correct I'll be bringing food as a 'preparation' if it is hard for me to find Halal food there. Thank you so much for your reply! Much appreciated.

@mariha2912

Thank you very much! I myself was not very sure where are the destinations that I should pay a visit to. I Googled and found out about Santorini and I did not pay attention on what can I do there (just love the views there). But I think your idea of travelling via bus is much more simpler and can help me to discover more of Greece. I might be travelling alone (or with my sister) so this is the chance for me to explore as much as I could despite of the 3-day visit. Thank you again, you helped a lot.

just to make you aware that you cannot bring any milk or meat products into Greece with you and you need to interpret that in the widest sense, so nothing including cheese powder for example, or meat stock, as ingredients in processed foods, as well as the most obvious items.

I don't think you will have a problem staying within your budget if you do as Mariha suggests and stay on the mainland. Santorini would be an expensive side trip, and there is always the risk that March weather would spoil those beautiful views. There is plenty to see and do in Athens to keep you busy for 2-3 days. If you wish to go somewhere outside Athens, buses are a convenient and inexpensive way to get around.

Regarding food, vegetables in Greece are so tasty it is not difficult to follow a vegetarian diet. If you also include fish with scales, then you will not go hungry in Greece. Fish is sold in restaurants by the kilo, so ask the waiter how much it will cost before ordering.

I agree with the comments made. I have been to Santorini in mid April and it was very windy during the day, damp and cold at night. I think March would not be too appealing. Nafplion would be a better option. My favourite hotel in Nafplion is Hotel Byron but you can find less expensive options.

Thanks for the link! And yes vegan menu is one of the best opts when travelling for Muslims as I'm afraid it's kinda hard to find Halal restaurants there. At certain places (like London) it is not hard to find Halal food so it is less worrying for me, but to visit Greece I must be well prepared Thanks again.

@Heimdall

Yes I've changed my plan and will do some mini research on the places that can be reached by bus from Athens. I'd love to visit places that tourists rarely decide to go, but those places are actually worth visiting. Yes I have no problems following vegan diet and fish is always a go for me Thanks for your help!

@Chania

I'd love to visit Nafplion after I Googled it. It seems to have a very sophisticated atmosphere with the buildings and all.. I love that kind of place. Thank you very much!

Another option is to seize a day with good weather and take a ferry from Athen's port Piraeus to the island of Hydra. Hydra is very picturesque, no cars or scooters, just donkeys. During the season there are standard one-day tours to 3 islands, Hydra, Poros and Aegina. But I'm not sure if these trips run in the offseason.

Hi Nobuggins,
Nafplion is a very interesting area, but with only 2-3 days, you hardly have time to look around Athens. There is much to see and do there. If you want to get out of the city, perhaps a day trip to Delphi or Sounion would appeal to you.

Thanks for the suggestion I'll take a look on that. Could you tell me why you're not a fan of Nafplion?

@parosblue

Hello parosblue,
It is a good idea if I spend my 3-day visit just roaming in and around Athens? I just figured that I can reach many mainland destinations like Delphi,Parnassos,Ancient Corinth, Corinth Canal,Loutraki,Arachova via bus within 3-4 hours journey.

With two days you have time only for Athens — there is so much to see. With three full days you could include a day trip to one of the places you mention. If you can add a couple more days to your time in Greece, that opens even more possibilities.

I see. I think I'll give day trips a go. I'm thinking about adding up a couple more days as Greece is truly magnificent and I wish I could explore more. I really need to plan carefully as I will be travelling (to all those places I've mentioned in my first post) within 2-3 weeks only as I need to return to my university to attend classes anyways thanks Heimdall!

I guess coming all the way to Greece, you have some interest on its ancient history and surviving sites, plus maybe a couple of museums. There is no better place than Athens for this, I think 3 nights/2 full days are necessary to visit most of the major sites and at least the Acropolis museum plus maybe getting a glimpse of the National Archeological one. It is important to know that at this time of the year, winter timetable applies on sites/museums, so most likely they'll be closed by 3PM. Usually sunset comes around 6.30PM anyway on March, so you can fit less in a day. Athens has some scenic spots anyway and you need some time to appreciate what the place is about (it's not about antiquities only) . So please make sure you allow enough time to see Athens before over-planning on day trips.
Personally I would try to decide which additional trip to take depending on how many days I have available, then try to connect there straight away from the airport, saving Athens for the tail end of the trip. That way you do not back track many times in Athens, loosing time on checking in/out of hotels etc. Of course this depend on specifics, but there is X93 bus connecting Athens airport to both Ktel Intercity Bus Stations in Athens. You need Ktel Station A on Kifissou Street for departures to Nafplion (Ktel Argolidos) or Ktel Station B on Liossion Street for departures to Delphi/Arahova-Parnassos is the mountain they are on!- (Ktel Fokidos) . You may connect to Corynth through suburban rail that connects to the airport, then use taxi or maybe bus to various spots. Remember that in theory 2+2=4 bus hours bus trip may not seem far too bad, but in practice you may feel exhausted and rushed. Commuting to bus stations, queuing for tickets,waiting for buses, actual trip, arriving and getting your bearings, explore around, then getting back to bus station for reverse procedure, it is more tiring that it sounds. Your point should be to enjoy places, not start a race to see as many places as possible without getting a feel of them!
As a side note, here is an other idea.
I am a DIY person, but if your aim on this trip is quantity over quality, you may consider one organized bus tour for a few days. Chat,G.O. and Key Tours are three reputable companies offering bus tours departing from Athens, taking in various major sites. A licensed guide is included in the deal. Those tours are rather rushed, but if you want to see many sites in limited time, they may do the trick,as public transport connection is rather time consuming for some of those routes.Check their individual sites to see if this appeals to you. Cost of course might be an issue, so you have to check carefully on that one.
Just some food for thought!

I think Hydra would be a great option but I don't know what it would be like in March and what travel options would be available. If travel was easy then it might be faster to get to Hydra than Naplion and it would give you an island experience.

Thank you so much! You gave me a few insights on how should I spend my time in Athens. I have to plan all over again as there are so many things I'd love to see and experience in Athens. I guess I have to add up a couple of the days for this trip. I wish I could avoid travelling agents as such because I would like to explore Athens by my own. Thanks again You helped a lot.

@Chania

Thank you! But I'm not really into islands haha and I prefer to visit the mainlands. However I'm gonna explore the possibilities of visiting as many places as I could. Thanks again

Regarding Nafplio, it's a much bigger town than I expected and we got caught in a traffic jam there. Also we got lost driving up to the Palamidi, but that was more the case of too many navigators. The old center of the town is pleasant enough but somehow didn't send me. Many people like Nafplio, and it is a good center for visiting ancient sites: Epidaurus, Mycenae, Tiryns, and, en route, ancient Corinth. We had a car. Don't know how easy it would be to get around to the ancient sites by public transportation.

Hello again!
Some practical info about getting around...
Train system is rather reduced in Greece, although it is convenient on particular routes. For example Athens to Kalambaka (Meteora). You may find schedules on http://tickets.trainose.gr/dromologia/ Site is rather temperamental, if you press the En button it seems to remain in Greek, but if you errase destinations on white boxes, names will appear in English. You pick your destinations from/to, pick a date, then pressing the blue button (or a black one, it seems to appear and disappear from website lol), timetables will appear.
Bus system is much more extended but it is aimed primary for local population. So there is no direct route to connect for example from Nafplion to Olympia or Olympia to Delphi, an interesting route for visitors but not in benefit for locals. The intercity bus system is called KTEL, but each prefecture/area of Greece has a different Ktel service. There is no website featuring all timetables, you have to research for individual websites for each area. Some areas do not even have an English version otr even a website at all. There are 2 Ktel stations in Athens, hosting different Ktel each. In general Ktel to western and southern Greece and some northern areas are hosted on Ktel Station A on Kiffisou street while Central and some Northern Greece Ktels are hosted on Ktel Station B on Liossion street.
My reference for tour companies was mostly for destinations outside Athens rather than Athens its self. If you want to visit for example Mucunae, Epidaurus, Olympia and Delphi in a limited time, tours are better than public transport. Athens has a very "walkable" historic center, most sites and museums are concentrated in one specific area, easy to walk among them and actually many roads around Acropolis are pedestrianized.. Some other museums or spots of interest, for example the National Archeological Museum, are located only 1-3 metro stops away.